Panga
//ˈpaŋɡə// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A large broad-bladed knife. Africa, East, South-Africa
"She turned to the small basket she was carrying and took out a panga."
- 2 Any of various edible freshwater fish of the genus Pangasius, native to southeast Asia, especially an iridescent shark, Pangasius hypophthalmus, now reclassified as Pangasianodon hypophthalmus.
- 3 A small inflatable motorboat used in Latin America.
- 4 a large heavy knife used as a weapon or for cutting vegetation wordnet
- 5 A type of modest-sized, open, outboard-powered, fishing boat common throughout much of the developing world, including Central America, the Caribbean, parts of Africa, the Middle East, and much of Asia.
Example
More examples"She turned to the small basket she was carrying and took out a panga."
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Swahili panga (“machete”).
Etymology 2
Back-formation from the plural, from the stem of translingual Pangasius (genus name), from Bengali পাঙ্গাশ (paṅgaś, “mud- or brown-coloured fish”).
Etymology 3
From Spanish panga (“motorboat”).
Related phrases
More for "panga"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.